3 The king's dillema

"My king, the identity of the two Assassins cannot be deciphered. They were masked throughout the night and could not be caught,"

The king was in a disheveled state. In all twelve years of his reign nothing like this had ever happened. There was a sick feeling at the back of his neck which he knew was the residue of the poisionous gas that he inhaled last night. He had not had a wink of sleep after the two assassins had vanished and his eyes had dark circles under them.

"--the valuables destroyed in the royal palace as a result of the fire amounted to--"

"Shut up!" The king roared, "I thought-- I thought we had exterminated all of them--those magic users!" He pointed a finger at Eunuch Gu as if all this was his fault. "Didn't I order to -- to destroy them all?!" He balled his hands into fists and hammered them on his table.

"Please compose yourself your majesty"

"Compose myself! With two magic users at large in my kingdom, maybe more! You, you saw with your own eyes the damage that only two can wreck--now, imagine--" the king shut his eyes at the thought, shivering "no! No! It must not be! They must be found!"

"Yes, your majesty. I will pass your order to the Army Generals,"

"No." Said the king abruptly, "I don't want to bring the court into this. I want my personal guards to handle this mission," he combed his beard with his fingers, "yes, that would be less conspicuous. Gu, summon the commander of the palace guards!"

"Your majesty, he fell into the chasm, which closed up when those two assasins dissapeared. I'm afraid be didn't survive,"

"What!?" The king groaned. The commander of the palace guards had been his faithful servant since he began his reign.

"No way," the king slumped back into his throne, "no-" he felt deflated all of a sudden "these girls--and those who are behind them--they know,"

"Know what, your majesty?" Eunuch Gu raised an eyebrow questioningly. The king came to his senses. He started to issue order upon order, frantically.

"First of all, evacuate my quarters and the queen and crown prince's quarters to the Northern Palace immediately! Appoint Lieutenant He as the new commander of the palace guard. Barricade the Northern Palace and issue the decree in my name that only select members of the royal family can gain entrance!"

"Yes, your majesty," Eunuch Gu bowed and exited the room.

"Your majesty," a junior attendant came in, "as you ordered, news of the assassination attempt has been stamped out. Meanwhile, the prime minister, is outside and seeking to be admitted into your presence."

The king becane uneasy.

"The prime minister hasn't heard, has he?"

The attendant shook his head.

"Fine then, let him in," the king adjusted his outer composure pretending to look through some old report files with one hand resting on the sturdy oak table. The prime minister shuffled into the room. He was dressed in the fashion of someone who had sneaked across the capital city unawares. His green cat eyes took in the room wordlessly.

"Greetings and respect to your majesty," he bowed half his body. His grey hairs were much more that those of the king but both men had been soliders and despite their age, commanded strength.

"Rise," the king scrutinized him "what brings you here at this hour? It is the middle of the night" the king added, looking at the newcomer warily.

"Your majesty," the prime minister stood upright, "I cannot but haste to check your welfare when I felt the tremor of an earthquake,"

"A what?" The king ignored the flattery and focused on the revelation. His eyes widened. If the prime minister had felt the tremor far away in his estate, certainly the whole populace had heard and felt it too?

"I presumed that an earthquake occurred in the royal palace?" The prime minister asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ahem...yes, yes. It did,"

"How was that possible?" Prime minister clutched his chest involuntarily. They were both thinking the same thing.. but neither wanted to be the one to admit it.

"There hasn't been any earthquake in Valencia since..." He refused to complete the sentence.

"Yes," the king replied gloomily, annoyed that, now that the prime minister had mentioned it, he was thinking about the War.

"Do you think this is the work of the...magic users?" Evem the prime minister shuddered to say it.

The king flinched at the mention of 'magic users'. Of course it was them. Who else could it be? The prime minister would know...he always would. He wouldn't have held his position that long if he was not able to quickly come to accurate conclusions. Sometimes even the king envied him.

He involuntarily clenched his fists.

"Your majesty," prime minister was quick to react, "please confide in me,"

The king assessed him. Was it sensible to tell him about the assassins? If he didn't already know, that was. Would it portray him as weak, afraid of just two girls, even if they were magic users?

The king decided to claw his way around and through the truth.

"I am not sure...but I think they have something to do with this earthquake,''

The prime minister sighed with impatience. He had been expecting more...when would King Andros ever learn to trust him? Had he, Prahas Kilejan Tarnn, not stood by his side all through the war? Had he not crowned him, even when more than half the court stood against them? Had he not done all this for his half-sister, the Queen, who also blindly believed that he was not wholly on her side? Had he not sacrificed his two sons, the reasons he lived, Picus and Taurus, to the War? Had they not died fighting for Valencia, for the King? Had he mourned them?

But, before he decided to leave his estate and come here at this hour, he had already made up his mind. Yes, a thin hardly visible smile crept up his face.

Valencia was going to have a new ruler soon.

.....

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